Mr Thomas, a member of the Ōrākei Local Board, says he's been asked by a few people to leave the race to give Mr Goff's opponents a better chance.

However he told Paul Henry he won't quit the race.

"Unless something radically changes, Phil Goff will be the next Mayor. I don't think that's in the best interests of Auckland.

"What I'm saying to my supporters is we have to make people aware of what the consequences of a Phil Goff mayoralty will be. There'll be no change. We won't deal with the huge housing and transport issues we've got."

Auckland's political right wing has been fragmented in this year's election campaign. Ms Crone, backed by the National Party-supported Auckland Future, Mr Thomas, and businessman John Palino, have split the centre-right vote.

Meanwhile, Mr Goff, a Labour MP who has talked of having a good working relationship with the National Government, faces no major rivals on the left.

Mr Thomas says he will be campaigning for the mayoralty again in 2019.